Friday, December 20, 2013

A Brunette, a Read Head, and a Blonde

SheppyBrew Brewery currently has more beers kegged and "on tap" than it usually has. I actually have four beers kegged, carbonated, and ready to drink.

Bummer that my keggerator only has room for two kegs, but I am able to compensate by putting picnic taps on the extra two kegs and simply icing them. Since it is winter, I can just put these iced kegs in the garage or the patio and not have to worry about the ice melting away too quickly.

At some point, I need to address the issue of only having a two-keg keggerator. But, for the most part, it has worked out ok. Usually, by the time I need to chill a new beer, one of the old kegs kicks and a spot opens up. This time, I wanted to have 3 beers available for holiday guests to drink, though, and the Boo Berry Wheat is not gone yet.

Anyway, in addition to the blueberry beer, I also have recently brewed a Blonde, an Irish Red, and a Porter. All three are ready to drink.You could say I have a Blonde, a Red Head, and a Brunette.

I brewed my "Brunette", Jolly Morlock Brown Porter, at the beginning of November. I have been drinking it since the beginning of December and loving it. I have the least amount of this available for Christmas drinking, but this is probably best since most of my holiday-time guests are prejudice against "dark" beers.

My "Red Head", of course, is Eric's Irish Red Ale. I brewed it mid-November, and have only just declared it carbed and ready to drink. I am loving this batch so far and don't expect it to last very long. I think maybe even some of my holiday-time guests will really like this one too. If they don't, I am going to question them as beer drinkers. This is an awesome beer.

And my "Blonde" should not come as any surprise to anyone who reads this blog. My world-famous Wetta Blonde Ale has been resurrected from the distant past as a new all-grain recipe. I brewed it on December 1st and just kegged it last weekend. I've been force carbonating it at a higher pressure to speed things up. As I type this, it is not quite where I want the carbonation, but it is really close and I think it will be perfect by the end of the weekend.

Of course, here at the SheppyBrew Home Brewery, we have too much respect for women to market our beer with suggestive photos of topless women. To be fair, some of us probably would if our Beer Model would let us, but as an organization, we don't believe in objectifying women in such a way.

I've seen that picture of the Hirter Beer several times on the interwebs and think it is genius. A brunette with a black-colored beer, a red-head with a red-colored beer, a light yellow colored beer with a blonde. Great marketing.

Ignore the fact that I did not remember what brewer is associated with the picture. Ignore the fact that I have no idea what those beers are. Ignore the fact that I will most likely never purchase a Hirter Beer. Heck, to be honest, I don't even know if this is a beer I can get my hands on. Ignore all that. Genius, I tell you.

Anyway, if you are at the SheppyBrew Brewery over the next few days, feel free to ask for your beer by hair-color.